Unveiling New Chiral Phenomena: A New Type of Chiral Raman Spectroscopy

Date: Friday, March 21
Time: 1 pm
Location: Arts Building Room 146, 9 Campus Dr., Saskatoon

Free and open to the public

About this event

Unveiling New Chiral Phenomena: A New Type of Chiral Raman Spectroscopy

A talk by Dr. Yunjie Xu (PhD), professor, Faculty of Science – Chemistry, University of Alberta

Our research program centers on understanding mechanisms of chirality recognition, transfer, amplification at the molecular level. While carrying out Raman optical activity (ROA) measurements of several transition metal complexes under near-resonance conditions, we detected very strong chiral Raman signals from both chiral and achiral solvents. Investigating possible mechanisms led to the discovery of a new form of chiral Raman spectroscopy, termed eCP-Raman. This technique integrates two spectroscopies—electronic circular dichroism and circularly polarized Raman (CP-Raman)—into a single method. Moreover, we developed a strategy to eliminate eCP-Raman contamination, enabling the extraction of true resonance ROA signatures for comparison with simulations based on the latest theoretical developments. Building on this discovery, I will discuss our effort to decipher complex chiral phenomena in diverse environments, using chiral luminescence spectral features of europium complexes, measured with an ROA instrument. These fundamental advances open up new opportunities for improved chiral sensors and expanded applications.

The J.W.T. Spinks Lecture Series is an annual series of lectures hosted by the University of Saskatchewan Department of Chemistry.

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